Glossary term
CIF
Incoterms rule: the seller pays carriage and minimum insurance to the destination port, but risk still passes on board at origin.
Cost, Insurance and Freight. As CFR, with the seller additionally obliged to insure the goods for the voyage.
Risk still passes when the goods are on board at the port of shipment. The seller buys insurance on the buyer’s behalf, which is a different thing from bearing the risk.
The cover required is the minimum level unless the contract says otherwise, and minimum cover is narrow - it does not respond to many ordinary causes of loss. Buyers who assume CIF means "fully insured" discover the gap at claim time. CIF is for sea and inland waterway transport only; the containerised equivalent is CIP.